The country’s major wireless carriers recently began providing service that allows cell phone users to contact emergency service via text message. But local emergency agencies are only hooked up to take Text-to-911 in a handful of areas. And downstate Illinois is not among them.

With more breweries per capita than any U.S. city, Asheville, N.C., has become a sort of Napa Valley of beer. And at the third annual Asheville Beer Week this week, this tight-knit beer community is strutting its stuff with tastings of barrel-aged sour beers and fermented Chinese tea saisons, and chocolate truffle and beer pairings.

Illinois Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) says he's come to an agreement on state spending with the speaker of the Illinois House, but Cullerton is leaving the door open for an income tax hike after the November election.

American leadership in the 21st century will be defined in part by the nation's military strength, "but only in part," President Obama said in an interview with NPR about his foreign policy priorities.